


How to save a life

by obtainjh



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Idk what I'm doing anymore tbh, M/M, Music AU, i think it does, more characters will be added, this does have plot, youtube au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-19 21:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9461816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obtainjh/pseuds/obtainjh
Summary: Music AU in which Yuuri is a somewhat known musician who due to family issues had to leave music and focus in his studies but never quite left music and started a YouTube channel that got even more popular the moment Viktor Nikiforov, a reknown musician, watched one of Yuuri's renditions of his songs.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UserZoSanForevah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UserZoSanForevah/gifts).



> This is my first fanfic so, please, be nice. Also, take in consideration that english is not my first language.  
> This fic happened because my friend Aurora wouldn't let me just tell her about my idea without writing about it, so if you thank her, do it.  
> Also, I'll be posting the spanish translation later if any of you are interested.

Ever since Yuuri could remember music had always played a part in his life, from when he was merely a toddler and his mother would sing him lullabies so he could sleep, or when he was five years old and his father taught him how to play the piano, to the moment he discovered he wanted to make music for the rest of life even if it wasn’t an easy path. Music had not only played a part on Yuuri’s life, it had shaped it and ultimately became his life. He would spend day after day playing his violin or piano until he was satisfied with it.

Minako-sensei was the person who taught him almost everything about creating music with instruments. She was person who introduced him to singing; and although he didn’t like singing in front of people, after all his shy self restrained him from becoming the best he could be, those who had had the pleasure of listening him sing could guarantee that if he wanted, he could become one of the most proficient musicians in the century. The thing is, as I have mentioned before, he was shy and thought very little of himself. He was the epitome of anxiety and self doubt.

Yuuri decided to forget his childhood dream of becoming a musician in order to help his family, even when they had assured him they could manage pretty well on their own. Yuuri knew it was a lie. He knew the facts, his family was struggling and they wouldn’t be able to help him continue his dream of pursuing a career as a musician. Thus he decided he would go to university, get a degree and start working so he could help them. It was hard. It was hard for everyone; to see that bright and shining flame of hope burn out slowly was difficult for everyone who had seen Yuuri grew up and fell in love with music. It was painful to see the light in Yuuri’s eyes slowly disappear.

 The thing is Yuuri has always been a smart kid. He had the best grades in school and the fact that he was so good at music, he had won many awards during his childhood and teenaged years, so when he applied for an American university it was no surprise he had gotten in and that he had also been granted an scholarship. When the day came, in which he had to say his goodbyes to his family to go to America, there were tears from everyone. But there is one thing Yuuri will never forget from that day, his mother’s last words before he left. “Yuuri, my dear”, she said while hugging him, “while you’re away, please, don’t hold yourself back and be happy. Don’t think too much and do whatever makes _you_ happy.” Yuuri, with tears in his eyes, promised her that he would try. “I love you, my dear Yuuri.”

“I love you too, mom.”

When Yuuri got into the plane, he put his violin case in the plane’s compartment and sat down; looking outside the little window Yuuri saw his city. He saw everything he had known. A tear ran down his cheek, he didn’t know what the future had for him in America, he didn’t know if he was going to be able to keep the promise he made to his mother. Yuuri was man of honor and he had a word to keep now. In America, he will try to be happy again, whatever that meant for him now. Happiness was easier to achieve when he was a kid. Music used to make Yuuri happy. He would spend hours playing, refining his skills. He didn’t care how long it took, the results always made him happy. Not only because he loved to surprise people by playing an specific difficult piece but also because he loved to play. That’s something he knew made him happy. When Yuuri was playing, the world didn’t exist, there was no one to judge him, no one to mock him or make him feel bad. When Yuuri was playing he was free. He was himself, even if he didn’t know what that meant yet.

It was a long flight. Yuuri was tired and the only thing he wanted was get to his dorm room and sleep. It was hard to read what the signs read. English was so different to Japanese. It was overwhelming in a bad way. Yuuri thought for moment he was going to have an anxiety attack right there in the middle of the airport. What a first impression that would’ve been. Fortunately, he found a person from the university waiting for him with a sign in very poor Japanese. The man turned out to be his roommate who had volunteered to pick him up from the airport. It was very nice of him to show up with that sign.

The man’s name was Phitchit Chulanont. Phitchit had volunteered to help Yuuri get to the campus because he knew what it was like to arrive in a foreign country, where people don’t speak the same language as you do. Phitchit was a blessing for Yuuri. They became the best of friends during their first year of college. It turns out both of them were studying journalism and had many courses together. They were the perfect counterpart of each other; Yuuri was shy and Phitchit was outgoing, Yuuri would help Phitchit stay focused on what really mattered and Phitchit would help Yuuri to come out of his shell. Phitchit also helped Yuuri with his anxiety. He had learned what to do when Yuuri had an attack.

  When Yuuri played for Phitchit for the first time, something he only would do if he trusted someone enough, they had known each other for eight months. Just after Yuuri played the last note of the cannon, Phitchit had tears in his eyes. He thought Phitchit hadn’t liked it and was crying because it was a horrible rendition of a beautiful cannon that had just been destroyed by Yuuri. Phitchit hugged Yuuri the moment he had put the violin down. Phitchit was crying because the melody had brought back so many happy memories of his past. He was crying because Yuuri, somehow, had this incredible talent to play something and make it his own. He was also crying because through the little amount of time they had spent living together he had learn that Yuuri was a private person and didn’t like to show how he felt but rather bottle it up and keep it to himself, the fact that Yuuri had the enough trust as to play for him, and only him, showed him how much Yuuri valued his friendship and how dear he had become to Yuuri in the last months.

The day Yuuri played a melody for Phitchit for the first time marked the day in which their friendship started to grow stronger. And day after day, month after month, Yuuri and Phitchit’s friendship became stronger.

First year at university was difficult for both Yuuri and Phitchit, but at least they had each other. In their second year, Phitchit introduced Luna to Yuuri. Luna was a Hispanic girl, and though little she was fierce. She was always up to defend those who couldn’t do it for themselves. Yuuri got along with Luna with a surprising amount of ease. Luna, who was a mix of everything Yuuri and Phitchit were but at the same time so different, infatuated them both. Luna was also the one who got the idea of recording Yuuri playing. “You have so much talent, Yuuri. It´d make me mad you didn’t share it with the world, if I didn’t know the reason why you don’t do it”, she told him one day, while they were binge watching a series. “What you do is art, Yuuri. And you’re denying the world the pleasure of listening to it”

“It’s not-,”sighs. “It’s not art. My music is not good, not really.”Yuuri said with a sad expression. And that was all Luna needed to explode into a rant about how good Yuuri was and how art wasn’t just about being making something pretty and nice but about actually making the people feel something. Luna really loved Yuuri; he was like a little brother for her, even when he was older than her, but Yuuri, Luna had noticed, didn’t believe in himself. Phitchit had confirmed her suspicions long ago. They were working in a project together for a class and somehow the topic had emerged. “Phitchit, do you know why Yuuri is always so self-deprecating when it comes to his music or anything done by him?”

Phitchit knew this moment would come and he also knew that he was going to have to explain things he himself didn’t understand completely well. “Luna, what I’m about to tell needs to stay between you and me. You can’t tell Yuuri, okay?” The seriousness in Phitchit’s face along with the tone he used was something Luna might never forget. “Okay, Phitchit.”

“Yuuri has struggled with anxiety for a long time, Luna. I’m sure by now you’ve witnessed one of Yuuri’s mild attacks but that’s nothing in comparison to what one of his real crisis look like. The reason why Yuuri can make you feel so much with his renditions is because he bottles up everything and only lets it go while playing. He hardly ever lets anyone get close to him; it took him almost a year to tell me about his anxiety and depression, Luna. Almost a year.

“I don’t really have all the details but I know he was quite the big thing back in Japan. He would perform for big events and belonged to a symphony even. Damn it, I think he even performed in a party for the English embassy in Japan. He left it all because his family had been struggling  with money and being so young Yuuri’s family couldn’t afford to send him to the best music schools. So he decided to leave it all. He decided that he would get a degree and help his family. He puts himself down because he doesn’t want to get his hopes up about being good enough in music so as to try to pursue a career. He’s doing it for his family, Luna. Even when his family had told him they can handle on their own without him.”

“Yuuri is doing all this for his family and not because he thinks he isn’t good enough?”

“In some kind of way he still thinks he isn’t good enough but he is always practicing to become better. There isn’t a day when he doesn’t practice. He loves music, Luna. And for some divine reason he has this amazing talent of creating music and making a melody his own.”

There are moments like this in which one doesn’t think of themselves at all and acts based on a selfless thought; Luna, who had seen Yuuri create music only once just like Phitchit, was so desperate and frustrated because she couldn’t find a way to help his friend. Until, it happened. Just like everything related to art, an idea came, one that changed everything the trio had ever known.

It’s the XXI century, technology is at its peak and there was so many stories on the internet of different people, talented people, who just like Yuuri, didn’t have the chance to develop their talent completely until all this inspiration and worlds they had created couldn’t be restrained in their own minds, they _had_ to set it free; it was for the sake of not only their own creators but also of world they were currently living in, the world that had seen them struggle for so long to keep their imagination captive deserved to know how talented these people were. And so, Luna came up with the idea of uploading Yuuri’s songs to the internet so people could listen and experience what music was for Yuuri.

It took a lot of convincing from Phitchit and Luna to get Yuuri to agree to something like that. They were loyal and would never do something like that even if what they only wanted to do was help; they knew how private Yuuri was with his music, after all music was the way Yuuri expressed his emotions. It took weeks to convince him to let Luna and Phitchit set everything up so Yuuri’s music was paid justice when it got uploaded online.  Since Luna was a photography and filmmaking student, she knew exactly what to do.

Luna and Phitchit made sure Yuuri’s first video was the best start for Yuuri’s career. Luna directed everything and made sure to find the best location for everything. She, somehow, managed to convince some other students to help her with one of her famous charms. The room was plain white and there was nothing but the piano, it was one of the rooms the art’s students used so the sound was amazing. Yuuri was nervous about it, tugging his light green sweater with his head down Yuuri entered the room and was surprised to find only Luna and Phitchit and some cameras.

“Told you I was gonna make it as comfortable for you to play, Yuuri,” said Luna while smiling. Yuuri saw something in her eyes, something he had seen before in his own eyes a long time ago, pride and enthusiasm. Confidence, too. Like the first time he played that lullaby his mother loved to play for her. He was proud of himself and how all the hard work he had done really paid off. And for the first time in what seemed to be ages, Yuuri truly believed he could be happy; even if it was just for a moment, he didn’t care that much about the video, he wasn’t as nervous as before, knowing he had friends who supported him and were more than willing to cross oceans for him to be happy eased him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've revised this chapter. I'm so sorry i haven't updated as I had promised, I will, i have the chapter almost finished but i need to revised it. I blame school for killing my inspiration and I swear by my mother I'll update more during the summer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my fic, like seriously, thanks.  
> As I already said english is not my first language so if there's any mistake or gammar error please tell how to fix it.  
> I accept constructive comments as long as you tell me how I can fix my mistakes. Educate me, don't belittle me.  
> Thank you once again,  
> Mary xx


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